Eats on Feets

Mammals make milk to nourish their young- it’s what we do.  About 98% of all mothers can make sufficient quantities of milk for their babies.  But what about that two percent who can’t?  Some are faced with hormonal issues, some illness and some physical barriers to making milk to feed their babies. So what do they do?  Some say that’s what formula, or artificial baby milk is for.  It’s readily available, and while costs a bit, is usually within the capabilities of most families.  Even some assistance programs give formula out for free. 

And that’s that.  Mothers who can’t make milk for their babies can feed formula to them, right?  Sure they can.  But there are numerous risks to feeding a human infant milk from another species and this isn’t even raw milk, but an overly processed derivative that contains high fructose corn syrup. Risks of formula feeding include obesity, diabetes, immunological disorders, heart disease, cancer,  the list goes on.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was expressed human milk available to these mothers to feed their babies? Aren’t there milk banks? You ask.  There are- two in the US and one in Canada.  The milk stored there is provided for NICU and premature babies and costs from $3 to $5 an ounce.  That’s out of most people’s ability to afford.  So basically, if you’re a mother of a healthy full-term baby who cannot produce milk despite all efforts you have to live with the risks of artificial baby milk.  Many mothers are extremely distraught over being backed into a corner like this.

But wait- what if there was a woman in your neighborhood, or even your state, who was breastfeeding a baby of the same age as yours?  And she was willing to express milk to give to you?  Now you would have a ready source of a biologically normal food for your human infant.  A food that would ensure proper growth of your baby and provide the immunological protection that only human milk can. This is what women have been doing for each other for as long as humans have existed:  sharing their milk.

This is what the network Eats on Feets does.  Compiled by Emma Kwasnica, women can get in touch with other women who either need milk or want to donate milk.  Full responsibility is placed on the parties who are involved in the milk sharing regarding health testing and shipping. What a wonderful way to give babies the nutrition they need and create lasting friendships!